The CopDoc Podcast: Aiming for Excellence in Leadership

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Ed Cronin has over 35 years experience in policing. His career includes experience as a Police Chief in two cities in Massachusetts. He holds a graduate degree in Criminal Justice Management along with an advanced graduate degree in Organizational Development and Systems Thinking from Suffolk University. He is also a certified executive coach. (Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching)

As a Detective Sergeant with 15 years experience, he took courses at Queen’s College in Oxford, University, England as part of his Master’s program at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. During this time, he also worked with the Thames Valley Police exposing him to new ideas and methods of policing practices. While there he was also enlisted and assisted in bringing the first group of US police officers to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s that was featured on National television in the US. This trip was followed up by the first Russian delegation of police officers to come to the United States eventually meeting with then FBI Director Louis Freeh and subsequent meetings with the US State Department who agreed to fund future delegations to the US.

While acting in his first Chief’s position in Gardner, Massachusetts he co-created a highly competitive grant application that resulted in an award from the US Department of Justice using an innovative community approach to combat domestic violence.

After three years in Gardner, Ed was hired by a Vermont based International NGO, called Project Harmony. He was appointed as Director of a US State Department funding program called Domestic Violence Community Partnership Program to Russia, Ukraine and Georgia that was based on the model he used in Gardner, Massachusetts.

As Chief of Police in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in 2006, he co-developed a task force that employed a systems approach to address crime and educational failures of Latino students. Fitchburg was experiencing a higher murder rate per capita than the City of Boston (mostly within the Latino community) and a high school dropout rate for Latino students of over 40%. His ground-breaking work brought the police, minority community, and the greater community at large together to engage in a process that identified the root causes as systemic racism, mostly unconscious, and lack of economic opportunities for at-risk youth. This work resulted in Ed receiving the 2011 Individual Achievement Award in Civil Rights from the International Chiefs of Police.

This effort refocused the community to address these deep-seated issues that eventually brought about systemic and political change. These efforts were followed up by excellent and progressive future political and police leadership. Today the City of Fitchburg experienced one murder in 2021 and a Latino dropout rate of less than 8%.

He has written a book entitled Just Policng: My Journey to Police Reform.

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Website: www.copdocpodcast.com
If you'd like to arrange for facilitated training, or consulting, or talk about steps you might take to improve your leadership and help in your quest for promotion, contact Steve at [email protected]

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Dawn Reeby has been a data analyst with over 20 years of success in leadership and development, integration, and growth of data-driven analysis and strategy development. She has partnered with dozens of local and federal agencies as a law enforcement strategy specialist. Dawn has designed and delivered training including nationally certified webinars and in-person courses, 2-3-day specialized workshops, and more extensive workshops. She provides technical assistance and personalized instruction on implementing and enhancing quality analytical capacities. Dawn also privately consults with law enforcement professionals who desire to accelerate their success as industry leaders through her “Rising Genius Transformation Program.”
Dawn is a coach for law enforcement professionals to become more confident, highly efficient and productive, and deeply valued leaders who thrive personally and professionally.
She is the author of two books; Bigger than Data and Building a Crime Analysis Legacy, both available on Amazon. A graduate of the University of Lowell, she has worked for the Lowell Police Department and the Nashua Police Department, and now partners with countless national and international police agencies to push the value and abilities of data analysis. She can be reached through her website www.excellenceinanalytics.com.
We talk about the value of data analytics for police agencies, and how to overcome the fear of starting to dabble in using existing data to guide the department resources and solve problems and crime.

Contact us: [email protected]
Website: www.copdocpodcast.com
If you'd like to arrange for facilitated training, or consulting, or talk about steps you might take to improve your leadership and help in your quest for promotion, contact Steve at [email protected]

Hey there! Send us a message. Who else should we be talking to? What topics are important? Use FanMail to connect! Let us know!

Kathy O'Toole is an international police leader. Starting as a patrol officer with the Boston Police Department, she rose through the ranks. Kathy left the Boston Police for the now-defucnt Metroplitann Police. When the Mets were subsumed by the Massachuestts State Police, she became a Lietenant Colonel. Kate she was tapped by Governor WIlliam Weld as the Secretary of Public Safety She served as the Commissioner of the Boston Police from 19xx to 19xx. She later served on the Patten Commission in Northern Ireland, which worked to reform the Royal Ulster Constabulary, creating PSNI, Police Service of Norhtern Ireland.
Later, she was appointed the first Chief Inspector for the Garda Inspectorate in the Republic of Ireland.
Kathy has retired and continues to provide consulting services to public and private organizations, including serving as a principal for CP 21.
A graduate of Boston College, she earned her J.D. from the New England School of Law. More recently she competed her Ph.D. from Trinity University of Dublin. She resides on Cape Cod with her husband, a retired Boston Police Detective.

Contact us: [email protected]
Website: www.copdocpodcast.com
If you'd like to arrange for facilitated training, or consulting, or talk about steps you might take to improve your leadership and help in your quest for promotion, contact Steve at [email protected]

Hey there! Send us a message. Who else should we be talking to? What topics are important? Use FanMail to connect! Let us know!

Dennis Nayor recently retired as chief of the Ithaca Police Department. He was previously the Chief of the Oneonta Police, with nearly 25 years of service in policing. Following an Executive Order from The New York Governor, all police agencies in NY have to submit proposals for reform by April 1, 2021.
After many focus groups and meetings, a decision was made to drastically change the police department, The plan, which includes renaming the Ithaca Police Department and having armed and unarmed public safety workers, was approved unanimously by the Common Council on March 31. The implementation plan has not been finalized but will reduce the number of armed officers while adding more civilian staff. Ithaca Mayor says he wants to rebuild the Ithaca Police Department from the ground up.
In a candid chat, Dennis Nayor discussed the process, the changes, and the way forward for a reimagined public safety agency. We talked about the current state of policing, defunding, and leadership in agencies.

Contact us: [email protected]
Website: www.copdocpodcast.com
If you'd like to arrange for facilitated training, or consulting, or talk about steps you might take to improve your leadership and help in your quest for promotion, contact Steve at [email protected]

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Dr. Gennaro F. Vito is a scholar, facilitator, author, professor, and award-winning criminologist at the University of Louisville. He also serves as a faculty member in the Administrative Officer’s Course at the Southern Police Institute where he offers a course on criminal justice leadership (CJ 578).
He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from The Ohio State University. Active in professional organizations, he is a Past President, Fellow, and recipient of the Bruce Smith Award (2012) of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the Outstanding Service Award, Police Section, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. He served as the editor of The American Journal of Criminal Justice (1987-1991). He is recognized as one of the “Top 25 Criminal Justice Professors” by the Forensic Colleges as ranked by the U.S. News & World Report’s criminology ratings. He has published over 100 professional, refereed journal articles and 18 book chapters.
He has published on capital sentencing, police consolidation, police leadership, police traffic stops, policing strategies for drug problems in public housing, attitudes toward capital punishment, and the effectiveness of criminal justice programs, such as drug elimination programs, drug courts, and drug testing of probationers and parolees. He is the co-author of eleven textbooks in criminal justice and criminology including Police Leadership and Administration: A 21st Century Strategic Approach (Elsevier, 2019), Organizational Behavior and Management (Prentice Hall, 2020) and Criminology: Theory, Research, and Practice (Jones & Bartlett, 2021).

Contact us: [email protected]
Website: www.copdocpodcast.com
If you'd like to arrange for facilitated training, or consulting, or talk about steps you might take to improve your leadership and help in your quest for promotion, contact Steve at [email protected]